I currently have the original Droid X with Swype. It's about 2 years old now and has been a great phone. Even though it still looks new (due to the screen protector and armored case), I'm feeling that it may be time for me to start thinking about a new phone.

I am definitely interested in an iPhone, and will not make any final decisions until the new one has been released. But it's not a guarantee that I'll get an iPhone.

I'm on Verizon and would like to remain so. 4G would be preferrable, but also needs to be able to use my home WIFI. Android is fine, as would be iOS. Windows not so much.

As for usage, I do a fair amount of texting and email with my smartphone when I am not close to my iPad or one of my computers. Speed and efficiency are important to me. Stupid errors annoy me to no end. Swype's biggest strength, namely the word suggestion engine, is also one of its biggest weaknesses.

Examples:

Intended / Actual

--> If they're parked in the street / If they're intended in the street (huh?)--> Choose A or B / Choose A our B (very annoying, this one; please make it stop!)--> I tried to open it / I tried out open it (also very annoying; makes me sound like a doofus)--> Getting Chinese takeout now / Frying Chinese takeout now

Now, this Droid is definitely much better than the phone it replaced, a Microsoft Windows Mobile phone. I would never go back to a Windows phone, not even a Windows 8 phone, unless I decided to start developing for it, but even then it would not be my primary device.

So...can anybody suggest any newer model smartphones that allow for better, more accurate, and faster typing? I'll assess the new iPhone when it is finally released. But I can certainly get a head start looking at other phones now.

It's a Droid X, already has a pretty big screen, which I have thought may be a bit too big. I can't put it in a pocket or clip it to my belt, but instead I have to clip it to the outside of a pants pocket. I've already broken two clips and torn one pair of pants. I'm actually thinking smaller rather than larger, but I suppose the typing thing is more important to me at this point.

As for the sale...LOL, thanks...but I have been thinking more and more about doing development, so I might have to keep the Droid X for application testing. But I'll keep it in mind!

What the Android does right, iOS gets wrong, and vice versa. No system is clever enough to compensate for the problem of touchscreen phones being massively inferior to a qwerty keypad like the blackberries.

Some people ask me why I have always enclosed my signature in spoiler tags; There is a good reason for that, but I can't elaborate without giving away the plot twist.

Some of these can be fixed just by how you interact with swype. If you're not so bent on typing as fast as possible, slightly pausing on each letter (in particular, each letter of commonly-miscorrected words) will resolve it. I had the or/our issue, and holding briefly (1/2 second) on the O and the R fixes it.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

MadManOriginal wrote:Are there any good phones with physical keyboards any more? Because if it's really a major concern to you and more important than other specs, that's the way to go.

There probably are, but the issue with physical keyboards is that they're a trade-off- either you get less screen area in a package with no moving parts (Blackberry) or you get a keyboard that has to be 'revealed' to be used, introducing cheap plastic 'joints' into the durability equation. Further, if you have a full screen and a full keyboard, your phone will be thicker.

I'd say it all depends on your focus, but more often than not I think people prefer the bigger screen in the thinner package; if they get a thicker phone, it's for a bigger battery a la Razor Maxx rather than a keyboard.

1) It sounds like your main issue with the phone is the soft keyboard.2) You like text prediction.3) A "new" Android phone will only get you a new version of the default Android keyboard, Swype, or an OEM "enhanced" keyboard, which will probably not make things significantly different.

So, before you decide to get a new phone... I'd suggest trying some alternate keyboards - with Swiftkey as the first one to try. If you end up liking a third party keyboard, a side benefit is that you'll be able to keep you using it if you upgrade to a newer Android phone. Plus, cost is usually pretty low, and there's usually trial versions.

The stock ICS keyboard serves me well on my Galaxy Nexus. The larger display does help somewhat. However, if typing accuracy is really crucial, you can't beat a hardware QWERTY as stated already.

My previous phone was a cheap Motorola running Android 2.X. The phone itself was slow and a bit tedious to use, but it had a nice hardware keybaord (similar to a Blackberry) and, even though typing on the Galaxy Nexus touchscreen serves me well, it's not been quite as accurate as my former cheapo with the physical slide out keyboard.

If you are on Verizon, the Droid 4 might be right up your alley. It has a very good physical keyboard with an excellent, sturdy sliding mechanism. Granted a physical keyboard makes trade-offs for size and weight, but it might just be what you are looking for...

What the Android does right, iOS gets wrong, and vice versa. No system is clever enough to compensate for the problem of touchscreen phones being massively inferior to a qwerty keypad like the blackberries.

Only someone who hasn't used SwiftKey would say that. Seriously, it is that good. Most of the time, I only have to type 1 or 2 characters of a word, and it comes right up. Quite often, I don't have to type the word at all, as it will predict the correct word for common phrases

Try the demo, but since it's on sale for $1 right now, I would say just buy it.

My only issue with it is that it can lag sometimes when entering text boxes in browsers on my Desire HD, no matter what browser I use (some are better than others).

I've tried virtually every software keyboard out there for android and let me tell you, the best solution BY FAR can't be found on the play store, but must be downloaded from the internet on your mobile browser... it's Swype! I'm not talking about the oem version of Swype that comes pre-installed on many phones, but instead the unreleased beta version that you can download from their website for free . It's at least 5 to 10x better than the stock version that I had on my galaxy s. The only thing with it is that it takes a week or two to really adapt to your style. As proof of its quality, I typed this all using it with it only making a single error!

djayjp wrote:I've tried virtually every software keyboard out there for android and let me tell you, the best solution BY FAR can't be found on the play store, but must be downloaded from the internet on your mobile browser... it's Swype! I'm not talking about the oem version of Swype that comes pre-installed on many phones, but instead the unreleased beta version that you can download from their website for free . It's at least 5 to 10x better than the stock version that I had on my galaxy s. The only thing with it is that it takes a week or two to really adapt to your style. As proof of its quality, I typed this all using it with it only making a single error!

That is one of hell of an endorsement. I'll take you at your word on the one-error thing and will investigate the beta.

To all others: Thank you for your responses thus far. I'll respond after work one day this week.

MadManOriginal wrote:Are there any good phones with physical keyboards any more? Because if it's really a major concern to you and more important than other specs, that's the way to go.

The nicest I've been able to find is the Samsung Captivate Glide, which is a Tegra 2 device with a slider keyboard. No ICS yet, though a Samsung release has been "leaked" on XDA. So it should be coming.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

If you are interested in an iPhone at all, definitely wait until the next is released. It may be better than current models, or if you don't care about the upgrades, the prices should drop on the 4S and 4. Heck, I think the 3S is free right now with a 2-year contract. Would definitely be nice if a 4 dropped to that price, or is the 4S started at $100 with the contract.

"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"

Get a new Blackberry, The all QWERTY Bold 9900 also has a touch screen which makes menu work easy. I hea ra lot of good things about the All touch Torch 9850/60 And I owned the Torch 9810's little brother and never had a moments issue with the slider mechanism.

Fastfreak39: I feel like they should change the phrase "jumping on the band wagon" to "sailing on the pirate ship"

superjawes wrote:If you are interested in an iPhone at all, definitely wait until the next is released. It may be better than current models, or if you don't care about the upgrades, the prices should drop on the 4S and 4. Heck, I think the 3S is free right now with a 2-year contract. Would definitely be nice if a 4 dropped to that price, or is the 4S started at $100 with the contract.

If he's already frustrated with the keyboard software on his Android phone, he is going to want to throw his iphone out the window if he ever tried using its keyboard.

djayjp wrote:I've tried virtually every software keyboard out there for android and let me tell you, the best solution BY FAR can't be found on the play store, but must be downloaded from the internet on your mobile browser... it's Swype! I'm not talking about the oem version of Swype that comes pre-installed on many phones, but instead the unreleased beta version that you can download from their website for free . It's at least 5 to 10x better than the stock version that I had on my galaxy s. The only thing with it is that it takes a week or two to really adapt to your style. As proof of its quality, I typed this all using it with it only making a single error!

That is one of hell of an endorsement. I'll take you at your word on the one-error thing and will investigate the beta.

To all others: Thank you for your responses thus far. I'll respond after work one day this week.

I'm sure you'll think it's a major improvement once you let it adapt! Just make sure you "allow installation of non market sources" in security settings of your phone otherwise you can't install it .

I just want to put in another endorsement for SwiftKey! One thing I LOVE is that you can customize the pause needed to type the secondary character, I set mine to about 200ms and typing numbers and symbols for passwords is a breeze.

The prediction is really leaps and bounds ahead of the stock keyboard and Swype that my wife uses on her stock EVO 4G. Just a word of caution:http://xkcd.com/1068/

pwdrhnd23 wrote:I just want to put in another endorsement for SwiftKey! One thing I LOVE is that you can customize the pause needed to type the secondary character, I set mine to about 200ms and typing numbers and symbols for passwords is a breeze.

The prediction is really leaps and bounds ahead of the stock keyboard and Swype that my wife uses on her stock EVO 4G.

trackerben wrote:Blackberry keyboards look the business. Is the physical UI of the next generation BB10 worth waiting for, or will current models like the Bold 9870 /9900 be almost as good and refined?

At the moment I'm using a really ancient blackberry but I've used both BB 6 and 7 as well. I would say that if you can wait until roughly February when the new phones should be coming out to do that but there's nothing wrong with BB 7. 9900 has the best keyboard of the bold series since the 9000 and I'd get that before the 9780.

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